The UK’s Metropolitan Police confirmed to The Times on Friday that it launched an investigation into the Post Office over the “widest miscarriage of justice in British history” that saw hundreds of postmasters falsely accused of theft and prosecuted. The investigation concerns potential fraud charges and stemmed from an ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, that follows the story of Alan Bates, one of the postmasters who were dismissed from their job.
More than 700 postmasters were wrongfully accused of misappropriating funds between 1999 and 2015 due to technical issues with the accounting software used by the Post Office branches. Those accused were either dismissed, prosecuted and imprisoned or ordered to pay large compensations to the company. Many people were bankrupted and some even took their own lives.
The Court of Appeal overturned the convictions of 39 people implicated by the error in 2021 after it ruled that their prosecution was an “abuse of process” and an “affront to justice.” The court acknowledged the technical issues were caused by Horizon and found that the Post Office knew of these problems, and therefore deliberately failed to comply with their disclosure obligations. It has since overturned more than 90 cases regarding the matter.
To remedy victims’ losses, the UK government announced in September 2023 that postmasters who have had their convictions quashed may receive £600,000 in compensation.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters that the government has put in place “three different compensation schemes that have already paid out almost £150 million to thousands of people who were affected.” He further encouraged people who “think they should have a claim” to “come forward, talk to the authorities, so we can get their claims processed as quickly as possible.” He also said the Justice Secretary is “looking at other options for how we can provide support for people.”
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), an independent organisation that investigates convictions and sentences, encouraged people who believe they have been wrongfully convicted to challenge their conviction.
